Molybdenum RDA Table
| Life stage | RDA (mcg/day) |
|---|---|
| Infant 0–6 mo | 2 (AI) |
| Infant 7–12 mo | 3 (AI) |
| 1–3 years | 17 |
| 4–8 years | 22 |
| 9–13 years | 34 |
| 14–18 years | 43 |
| 19+ years | 45 |
| Pregnancy | 50 |
| Lactation | 50 |
| Upper limit, adult | 2,000 (9-13: 1,100; 4-8: 600; 1-3: 300) |
| Food family | Portion | mcg (US survey range) | note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black beans / chickpeas / lentils, cooked | 1 cup | 75–130 | richest family |
| Nuts (almonds, peanuts) | 1 oz | 10–25 | soil-dependent |
| Oats / whole grains | 1 cup cooked | 6–20 | soil-dependent |
| Milk / yogurt | 1 cup | 5–20 | tracks animal feed |
| Beef | 3 oz | 5–15 | tracks animal feed |
| Egg | 1 large | ~5 | - |
Molybdenum is the last mineral most people ever think about, and the requirement table reflects that: 45 micrograms a day for adults - a few specks of dust by weight - with beans, lentils, nuts and grains covering it many times over in almost any diet. Its biochemistry is real but invisible: molybdenum sits at the active center of enzymes that detoxify sulfites (the preservatives in wine and dried fruit) and process sulfur-containing amino acids. Deficiency in the wild is so rare that nutrition science describes it almost entirely through hospitalized cases.
The one honest complication is that molybdenum is the mineral where the food table shrugs: content is governed by the soil a plant grew in, so the same bean crop can vary several-fold between regions, and animal products track what the animals ate. That is why this table gives families and ranges rather than decimal-point portions - the only nutrition table on the site where the soil is a listed variable, and the reason US averages (in the tens of micrograms daily) sit comfortably above the 45 mcg RDA without anyone planning anything.
The clinical corners give the page its edges. Deficiency is documented in two settings only: patients kept alive on total parenteral nutrition lacking added molybdenum (the 1981 case that proved the element essential - headache, night blindness, lethargy, reversed by dosing) and infants born with a genetic defect in the molybdenum cofactor, a severe neonatal disease. At the other end, the UL of 2,000 mcg for adults sits roughly 40x above the RDA and far above what food can deliver, so the ceiling is a supplement-industry line, not a dinner-table one.
How to use
- Find your RDA row: 45 mcg from age 19 (43 at 14-18, 34 at 9-13, 22 at 4-8, 17 at 1-3); infancy runs on a 2-3 mcg AI; pregnancy and lactation rise slightly to 50 mcg. The adult UL ladder: 2,000 mcg from 14, 1,100 at 9-13, 600 at 4-8, 300 mcg at 1-3.
- Use the food table as family math, not decimal math: legumes (black beans, chickpeas, lentils) are the richest cluster at roughly 75-130 mcg per cooked cup in US surveys; nuts, oats and other whole grains add tens of micrograms; dairy, beef and eggs contribute single digits to low tens. A diet containing beans most weeks clears the RDA on autopilot.
- Skip the supplement question unless it is clinical: US adults average well above the 45 mcg RDA from ordinary food, the deficiency literature is two case reports deep, and the UL is a line for high-dose supplement labels - the one population that should read a molybdenum panel is TPN-formulation staff and metabolic-clinic families, not shoppers.
Frequently asked questions
How much molybdenum do I need per day?
The RDA is 45 mcg for men and women from 19 (50 mcg in pregnancy and lactation), stepping down through 43 mcg (14-18), 34 (9-13), 22 (4-8) and 17 mcg (1-3); infants carry a 2-3 mcg AI. The Daily Value on labels is 45 mcg, and the adult UL is 2,000 mcg - about 40x the RDA.
What foods are highest in molybdenum?
Legumes lead: cooked black beans, chickpeas and lentils run roughly 75-130 mcg per cup in US surveys. Nuts, whole grains and oats follow in the tens of micrograms, with dairy, beef and eggs in the single-to-low-tens per serving. The honest caveat is built into the ranges: plant content tracks soil molybdenum, so the same portion varies several-fold by region - which is also why ordinary US diets average comfortably above the RDA without planning.
What does molybdenum do in the body?
It is the metal center of enzymes that clear sulfite preservatives (sulfite oxidase), break down sulfur amino acids and mobilize iron - quiet, essential housekeeping. The proof it matters is clinical, not dietary: when hospitalized patients received intravenous feeding without molybdenum in 1981, they developed headache, night blindness and lethargy that reversed when it was added, making it the last mineral proven essential in humans.
Can you be deficient in molybdenum?
Not from food. The documented cases are intravenous-feeding patients without added molybdenum and babies with the genetic molybdenum cofactor deficiency - a rare, severe neonatal disorder unrelated to diet. Everyone eating ordinary food, anywhere on the spectrum of diet quality, clears the 45 mcg RDA incidentally.
Is too much molybdenum harmful?
The UL is 2,000 mcg daily for ages 14 and up (1,100 at 9-13, 600 at 4-8, 300 at 1-3), set to keep blood urate in range - very high chronic intake, as in mining populations, has been associated with gout-like joint symptoms. Food cannot approach the ceiling; the line exists for supplements and occupational exposure, and ordinary eaters have no practical way to cross it.